Just a Spark
by kendraDrake
Summary: What would happen if a fifteen-year-old Remy took a few years to explore Europe to escape his family of thieves only to end up with a new one? Prequel to "Wisps of Smoke." AU. Remy/OC. Complete
1. Chapter 1

If you haven't read my first fic, "Wisps of Smoke," you may want to start there to see how this fits into the X-Men universe. While Remy doesn't make an appearance in this chapter, just hang tight. You will see him soon.

* * *

Jaleena Greyson stood on the front porch of her home—well, her old home. She had one suitcase sitting next to her with as many of her belongings as she could fit stuffed inside of it. She had been at this house for almost ten months—it had been a new record in her life of bouncing from one family to the next. She had really thought she had found a home and had enjoyed regular meals, a room of her own, and genuine affection. Then the elderly woman she had been living with had a sudden stroke and would now be in a permanent care facility. Now she was out on her own again. She waited for the familiar van to pull up to the curb, usher her inside, and take her to her next "home." She was only twelve years old, but she was experienced enough to know better than to expect a new mother or father to be waiting for her with open arms.

On the way to her destination, she was told it was to be a group home that already had nearly a dozen children. Leena did not react to the news. There were pros and cons of any new situation. She knew that bad things could happen in even the most carefully tended home, and that genuine care could come in the form of people living in some of the most run-down locations.

She arrived, was shown her room—it would be shared with 7 other children, they explain, gesturing to the four sets of bunk beds, one against each wall. She was left to "get settled" before going down to help with dinner, and she looked around to find a place to hide her most treasured possessions—a pair of patent leather low-heeled shoes the old woman had given her for her birthday, a candy bar she had saved, and the thick wool coat that she wore. She had learned in the past that hiding things under the mattress was the first place the others would look if they came scavenging. She set her case on the bed and was able to crawl onto one of the top bunks to stuff the secret items into the ceiling by moving away one of the drop-ceiling tiles. Hopefully whoever slept on this bunk would never get curious.

She slowly trudged her way down the stairs and toward the kitchen she'd been shown on the quick tour of the house. There were two other children already there. One was a boy scraping the skins off of some spotted potatoes. He had whitish hair and some sort of disfigurement. The arm and hand holding the potato was much larger than his body, the shoulder bulging up past his ear, the arm looking surprisingly muscular. The rest of his body looked much as it would for any of the boys she'd run across—skinny, with bones protruding at the hips and chest, knees that were knobby, and hands graced with bruised knuckles. He didn't look up when she entered, but kept his head bent over the work, his smaller hand clumsily dragging the dull peeler against the potato.

Another girl was washing dishes. She did stop what she was doing, turning to look at Jaleena with narrowed hazel eyes. She pulled her hands out of the dish water, a knife clutched in one fist. She held it almost casually. "You the new girl?" She asked as she turned on the water to rinse the knife. When Jaleena nodded, the girl picked up a towel to dry it off. She eyed Jaleena's well-mended clothing and clean hair. "You new to a home?" When Jaleena shook her head in the negative, the girl paused, considering. "You going to cause any trouble here?"

Jaleena's eyes widened, and she shook her head quickly. The last thing she wanted to do was to make an enemy in the first 20 minutes. "No," she murmured. "I just want to do what I can to help." She looked around the kitchen. "Can I help you with dinner?" The girl pursed her lips, and her eyes darted to the boy. If Jaleena hadn't been looking, she would have missed the very, very slight nod of his head.

The girl gestured to the table, "You can cut up those potatoes Joey's peeling." She took two steps toward Jaleena, kept her hazel eyes locked on the smaller girls, and handed her the knife, handle first. Carefully and slowly, Jaleena lifted one small hand to take it. She tried to keep her fingers from shaking, but couldn't quite manage it. She went to sit down at the table across from the boy. The girl remained standing where she was in the middle of the room, watching her.

Nervously, Jaleena reached for a peeled potato and began to cut it into small squares. The girl staring at her only made her more nervous, so the pieces were uneven and lopsided. She looked at the boy. "So your name is Joey?" She asked softly, "My name is Jaleena, but you can call me Leena if you'd like." She finished one potato and reached for another. He didn't look up, and in fact seemed to bend his head lower over his work. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but I'm a little nervous. It's always like that in a new place, isn't it?"

At the sound of footsteps, she looked up with startled eyes to see the girl standing beside Joey. "He doesn't want you to look at him. He's embarrassed." She gestured to his arm.

Jaleena nodded and turned back to the boy again. "I don't think you should be embarrassed." She quartered a potato. "I think it just shows how strong you'll be once you grow up. Maybe it's just that the rest of you has to catch up with your arm." She cut those quarters into small pieces before speaking again. "I bet you're really good at arm wrestling."

To her surprise, she heard a muffled chuckle come from the boy, and she was surprised to see the girl's hand rest gently on his shoulder, a smile on her lips. Slowly, he peaked up at her from between greasy strands of white hair. She could see that his nose was much too large for his face as well. He looked up at the girl again and smiled at her. When he spoke, his voice was surprisingly soft and had a Scottish burr to it, "This is Laurel. We stick together."

Laurel nodded in response to that and pulled out a chair. "This place isn't too bad. They feed us regular at least. You'll get more than normal tonight because they always put on a little more of a show when a new kid comes in. You better enjoy it while you can."

Jaleena nodded and grabbed the last potato that was peeled. Laurel continued talking, giving her the rundown of the home. She named each child living there and whether they were friendly, shy, or bullies. Jaleena moved on to chopping the vegetables on the table as she listened, mostly silent but asking a few questions when they occurred to her.

When everything was finished, the dumped the vegetables into a roaster with a hunk of some sort of meat, and Laurel eyed her again. She looked at Joey, who nodded almost imperceptibly. "We're going outside to have a smoke," she explained. "You can come with us if you want."

Jaleena nodded, realizing from her past experiences that this was an important opportunity to make friends. Normally, she spent at least the first month trying to avoid the meaner children, and having allies early on could help her with that. "I'll meet you outside?" She mumbled before turning and dashing back up the stairs. When she joined the two on the back stoop, she pulled something from her pocket. "I thought…well, I thought I'd share a treat before dinner. To thank you for inviting me." She pulled out the candy bar, just a bit beat up, and held it out. And with a few smears of chocolate, Jaleena made her first, life-long friends.

The three bonded over a shared cigarette and candy bar, and they spent the next two years watching out for each other. They established a sense of family that none of them had ever felt—a true meeting of equals. Joey accepted Jaleena almost immediately, and he later told her it was her acceptance of his deformity and her very lame joke that had made him like her. Laurel had been more grudging with her respect but eventually was affectionate toward the other girl. Jaleena learned that the two had been inseparable since they were young children when they had been housed with the same family. Since that time, they had worked the system, lying and saying they were siblings, though they looked nothing alike. Over the years, they shared more and more about themselves, even daring to share some of their dreams for the future. They had all been burned in their young lives, so trust came slowly, but it did come.

To Joey's excitement, he did grow into his arm. By fifteen, much of the rest of his body had filled out. He looked more like a muscular twenty-five year old body builder than a young boy, but his ability to protect the girls made up for any awkwardness he felt in his appearance. They stuck together until they were told they would be separated since funding ran out for the home. Since Jaleena wasn't "related," there was no way they could guarantee she would end up with Laurel and Joey. At that point, they decided to set out on their own, leaving the sporadic security of the "system" behind.

They spent their first summer sleeping any place that offered shelter, taking turns keeping watch, and learning how to deftly pick pockets or play on the sympathies of strangers to keep food in their stomachs. It was during this time that Laurel learned of her powers: she could melt metal objects with the touch of her hands. Being her optimistic self, Jaleena was able to keep her calm long enough to make her see the bright side—they'd never again have problems picking a lock, and Joey admitted that it made him feel less of a freak for being so large. The secret seemed to only strengthen their bond.

As fall approached, they realized the importance of finding more secure lodgings. It wasn't long before they came across a few other "special" teenagers. They met StarFire, a young girl who had features resembling that of a cat, and her best friends Violet and Crake, who were about three years older than the rest of them. Violet had sprouted small, transparent wings at an early age which led to her taking off to avoid becoming a medical experiment, and Crake had the ability to raise the temperature of things to that of molten lava. The six decided if they pooled their resources, they could not only find a place to share, but would be able to protect it as well. When Jaleena realized she could control the wind, it didn't seem to surprise anyone that she had a power as well. Their situation wasn't perfect, but it worked for everyone, and quite unexpectedly, their family doubled. For the time being they were safe, and for them, that was enough.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The following summer.

Jaleena snapped her book closed. It was hard to concentrate on history when you had a friend sulking in the nearby window box. She looked over at Violet, who was staring moodily out the window. Not that there was any reason to stare out that window when the only view was the side of anther rundown building. "Okay, Vi. I've asked you three times what's wrong, and you've just shrugged each time. If you don't answer me this time, I'm going to throw this book at you. Got it? Are you ready? So: What. Is. Wrong?"

Violet was petite with light blue hair that was normally pulled back in a ponytail. Today she'd left it down to hang around her forlorn features. She sighed again and turned to stare down at her webbed feet. "It's Crake. He's got a new friend and barely spends any time with me." She wiggled her toes. "Maybe he's spending so much time with someone else because I have such weird feet?" Violet was 17 now. For some reason, Jaleena thought it was strange that she, the younger of the two, was going to have to be the voice of reason.

Jaleena tested the weight of the book in her hands, still considering throwing it at her friend. Maybe it would knock some sense into her. "Violet, Crake adores you. He's just made a new friend. That's normal, right?"

Violet turned moodily, a frown marring her delicate features. "No. It's not normal! How is it normal that this weird kid turns up and is just so much better at everything than I am?"

Sighing, Jaleena sat up. "Okay, okay! Not normal then. Definitely strange. Definitely. Tell me about him then, and we'll get to the bottom of everything." She lowered her voice and tried an attempt at a detective-y accent. When Violet just glared, Jaleena shrugged and prompted, "You might feel better if you talk about it."

That seemed to be what Violet was waiting for. She launched into a speech that she must have been planning for some time. "He's just suspicious. I mean, how did they meet? They picked each other's pockets! At the same time! And neither of them noticed until they went to clean out the other's wallet. Then, they both go back to find each other to get their money back and to beat the living daylights out of each other. And then all they do is laugh! It's like they're suddenly best friends." She threw her hands up in the air. "But me. I don't think it's funny. It's weird. How can Crake even trust the guy? I mean he's a _pickpocket_ for goodness sake!" Jaleena tried to ignore the irony considering that was how most of them put food on the table. "Not only that, but he's _American_!" Violet spit out the word as if it were poisonous. "How can we trust someone from a country that had its own civil war!" Jaleena glanced at the book she was holding. Obviously, she was the only one who cared about history. Seriously. Did the French Revolution ring any bells? Yet Violet went on. "Now Crake doesn't even want me to go with him when he's out working. He meets up with _Remy,_ and they work together. _Remy _can pick pockets better than me. _Remy _causes more effective distractions. _Remy _pulls in twice as much as I can._ Remy_ is _a boy_! It's like I'm chopped liver! I'm stuck here alone _all _day long with nothing to do," Violet whined. "He's just being so selfish. He doesn't love me anymore, and I just know it's all because of my weird feet!" She wailed.

After fighting off the temptation to roll her eyes, Jaleena tried to reassure her friend, "I know that's not true! Besides, you don't have to sit here, Vi! We could go out together to do some work? We could shop? Or you could come with me to the library?" Jaleena tried to offer helpfully, but Violet's only response was to let out another wail and to dissolve into tears. At this point, Jaleena knew it was better to cut her losses. Violet was in a prime sulk, and there was no way that she'd listen to reason. She glanced at her watch. The library would only be open for another couple hours anyway, and she wanted to get some other books to read over the weekend. She slipped off the bed, waved the book at her friend, and dashed out the door, trying to not feel guilty about the self-pitied sobs erupting behind her.

She gathered some of the books she'd finished this week and headed to the kitchen to stuff them in her bag. StarFire was grumpily stirring something on the stove. "What's up, Star?" She asked, "Want to go to the library with me?"

StarFire only growled and cast her eyes to the ceiling, where they could still hear Violet crying. She ignored Jaleena's question. "Is she still moping about Crake? I say she's better off without him. She can do better anyway. He's never realized how lucky he is to have her," She bit this out and glared back down at the pot. She continued mumbling to herself, so Leena slung her bag over her shoulder and went through the back door, convinced the cat-girl wasn't actually talking to her, but more to herself.

Everyone was up in arms about this new guy Crake was hanging around with. Maybe because no one had met him yet? They were all very comfortable with each other, and she did understand feeling slightly threatened by the idea of a newcomer rocking the foundation of their happy home. But seriously, what trouble could one kid cause? They had enough to worry about with their territory growing smaller every day. If this Remy was even as half as good as Violet had said (and that was likely overdramatization), then he'd be able to pull in more for the shared pot. But if he wasn't, then that was one more mouth to feed on an already stretched budget. She frowned at the thought and tried to forget about the fact that she hadn't eaten since some stale bread and watery oatmeal at breakfast. Her stomach growled in spite of her decision to ignore it. If she'd learned one thing about teenage boys, she'd learned that they did eat—a lot. She loved Joey and Crake and would do anything for them, but the last thing they needed was one more of them around to eat more than his fair share.

At this time of day, the pickings for "work" were slim, but as she made her way to the library, she was able to extract one bill fold from a man who had left it haphazardly hanging part of the way out of his pocket. It was almost too easy to count, but it gave her enough to bring home something to help with dinner. Walking past a grocer's stall, she accidentally bumped into it, causing some fruit to fall on the ground. She yelped and began to apologize profusely to the vendor, carefully slipping a couple apples into her sack while she "helped" restore them to their place in the bin. She left the woman smiling and waving behind her, completely unaware that she'd been swindled.

Perhaps this was due to the fact that Leena looked completely sweet and innocent. Today she wore her short black hair in tiny pig tails. Her large, pale blue eyes regularly blinked slowly at strangers in an attempt to hide the intelligence behind them. (Apparently big, pale eyes, and slow blinks implied she was a bit slow-witted). She played up her figure by wearing clothes that were sometimes just a bit too small (that could also be due to the fact that they all wore what they could swipe off of clotheslines and from other people's shopping bags). And she skipped. A lot. It made her look a bit frivolous, and besides, poor people and thieves had too much to worry about to be light-hearted enough to skip. Right?

She forced her stomach to forget about the apples for the time being as she hopped up the stairs and into the dark library. She waved to the familiar old lady who worked the desk and patiently waited for her to come over and check in her books. Jaleena was a regular, and she always had to wait for books to be checked in before she could check more out. She couldn't remember a time when she hadn't reached her limit on the number of books she was allowed to take with her.

She loved to read. Yes, she read some fiction, but mostly she tried to get her hands on any material that she normally would be learning in school. One of the drawbacks of living on your own with a bunch of teens was that you didn't have a guardian to check you into school, and trying to go on her own would inevitably result in being put back in the system, so she tried to teach herself—and the others when they were bored enough to listen to what she was reading. Thanking the librarian, she spent the next hour meandering through the stacks, picking up different books that caught her attention. After checking them out, she arranged them in her bag, being careful not to smash the fruit, and headed back outside.

As she stepped out the door, she glanced at the bottom of the stairs and quickly jumped back behind a pillar, peeking out around. Crake lounged against the railing halfway up the stairs with another boy and two girls. She frowned as Crake leaned close to push the hair behind one of the girl's ear and murmur something to her, winking. The girl giggled and gazed up at him with an open invitation. It seemed the other boy was flirting with the other girl as well. Jaleena ground her teeth. Maybe Violet had a right to be upset.

She pressed her back against the column for a moment, trying to cool her temper, but she could feel the air stirring around her despite her efforts to calm herself. What a jerk! If this was what happened from making new friends, perhaps Crake did need to stick with the family! How could he do this to Violet after they'd been together for so long. How long was it? She frowned, puzzled for a moment. She'd never asked that, but they'd been together for a long time. She was sure of it! He shouldn't treat her so poorly! Resolved, she stepped away from the pillar and started stomping down the stairs toward the group. Crake looked up, and she knew the moment he recognized her—and her stormy expression. He pasted on one of his fake grins, the same charming smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, the one he used when he was scamming strangers. Only this time, it was just a bit strained. The others turned to see what he was looking at.

"Crake! You low-down dog!" She started yelling while she was several feet away, and before he knew what was happening, she slung her book-laden bag at him, hitting him square in the throat and causing him to stumble down a few stairs to land on his behind, coughing and trying to catch his breath. "How could you do this to Violet, you bastard! She's at home pining over you, and you're out here flirting like you don't have a care in the world! She's been loyal to you for years!" (well, she thought it was years) "For years! And this is how you repay her?"

The girls suddenly realized the trouble, and quickly took off. The other teen stood there for a minute, watching the girls take off, and then he started laughing.

"Now Leena," Crake began, "I can—"

"Let me guess. You can explain?" She now stood just a few steps above him, her hands on her hips. "How dare you! I don't think you need to explain a thing. I'm not blind! I could see you pawing that girl." She pointed a finger down at him, "You just wait until we get home! Violet is going to be heartbroken!" At this point, she realized the other boy was still laughing. In fact, he was laughing so hard, he was bracing his weight on his knees. Apparently, this was funny. She spun on her heel, directing her anger at him. She gave him a hard shove, which landed him a few steps down on his butt as well. "And you!" She yelled. "I don't know who you think you are getting Crake into a mess like this, but you're nothing but bad news. You just get lost now, do you hear me?"

The boy just continued laughing, leaning back on one arm now, looking impossibly cute in the process. Apparently getting beat up by a girl didn't bother him. He seemed to be trying to speak every few moments, and managed to compose himself a few times, but as soon as he tried to speak, he'd begin laughing again. She clenched her fists, and the wind began to rise around them. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the sound of his laughter, and she was only able to get control when she was startled by a hand on her shoulder. Crake had gotten to his feet, his face serious. "It's okay, Leena. Really. I can explain. Just give me a chance, and you'll understand."

They ended up at a café a few blocks away, the other boy still chuckling to himself every few minutes. Jaleena ignored him. Crake ordered a round of coffee for them as well as a mint-flavored cupcake for Jaleena. He knew she loved chocolate and rarely treated herself. In her current mood, he seemed to feel that splurging on a treat was definitely called for. She continue to glare at him, even as it was set before her, not wanting to start eating it until things were settled, when she could enjoy every bite completely. "You better start talking," she ordered as she lifted her cup to take the first sip.

"It's all a new scam, Leena. I promise." Crake explained. "We find a couple single girls, flirt with them, and make bank. See?" He began pulling several items out of his pockets, setting them on the table. There were at least two flowered wallets, and one that was covered in stickers of some of the more popular male rock stars. The wallets were followed by several pieces of jewelry, a bracelet, a couple rings, and a few single earrings. Jaleena blinked and leaned close to pick up one of the earrings. It looked like a real diamond, and a big one. When she looked back at Crake, he wore a big grin. He gestured to the diamond. "I picked that one up off an old rich lady. She was very happy to have the attention of a younger man and even gave me her hotel room number." At Jaleena's dark expression, he quickly added, "I wasn't going to go. Definitely not. I can't even remember it now. Or the hotel. What hotel was that?" He looked at his friend for help.

Shaking his head, the other boy laughed again. "He's telling the truth, chere. Besides, you really help us out this time. You made it very easy to get away from those girls quickly. It's hard getting away from the ladies when you're just so damned handsome." He smiled in what she assumed he thought was a charming way.

She scowled back at him. She definitely didn't like him. Plus, his French sounded funny. She counted that as another mark against him. She couldn't wait to tell Violet that he could barely speak properly. They'd have a good laugh about that. Another negative in her mind was the fact that he wasn't lying. He _was_ good looking. He was tall, had short, spiked auburn hair, chiseled features, and had looked entirely too cute sprawled out on the granite stairs of the library laughing or lounging in a petite cafe chair. His features changed when he laughed, making him look young and attractive rather than his current, what she would call sleazy, expression. Perhaps what she hated most (or told herself she hated) were his intriguing eyes. They were black—not the pupil, but the actual eye. The pupil was a deep red color, hinting that perhaps he was "special" like the rest of them were. They caught her attention, and she just wanted to stare into them until they didn't seem so alluring. Stubbornly, she turned back to Crake. "So when were you going to tell us? Or at least share some of this with the rest of us?" She gestured to the tabletop.

Crake frowned. "I wasn't. At least not yet." When she opened her mouth to speak, he held up one hand. "I have my reasons, Leena. I'm trying to put it all together to save up. You're right. Violet and I have been together for a long time. I want to ask her to marry me. When I told Remy, he came up with this to help bring in more cash more quickly. Everything I've been doing on my own still goes to the family," He promised. "But this is especially for Vi. You have to swear not to tell her."

Jaleena softened just a bit. This explained all the extra time away from Violet. Naturally, if she went with him, she'd want to know why he was holding money back. And he wouldn't be able to explain that without spoiling the surprise. She reached a hand out to place on top of his. "That's so sweet, Crake. Of course I won't say anything." Her gaze swung to Remy, who was still smirking while he sipped his coffee. "What about you? What do you get out of this?"

He grinned in return, and plucked a pearl ring from the table top. "My share, of course." He leaned toward her, captured her hand and slid the ring on her finger. "And the occasional pleasant company as a side benefit." He winked and raised her hand to his lips.

"In your dreams!" She huffed as she pulled her hand away before it could reach his lips.

This time Crake laughed. "Now that that's settled, Remy is right. You could help us out with this. If you pull off that same stunt, it will get them to take off more quickly and lessen the chance of them figuring out they're missing stuff. Only next time," He rubbed at his collarbone, "Could you make sure your bag has a few less books in it? That really hurt."

"Hmpf," Jaleena scoffed. "You deserved it." She picked up her coffee and took a sip, considering. "I guess I could help when I'm not busy doing my own stuff." She looked at him. "Though you know Violet is going crazy thinking you don't care about her anymore. Today she's convinced it's because of her feet."

Crake grinned. "I think her feet are the cutest things I've ever seen. They're just so tiny!" He grinned at her. "Now, are you going to eat that cupcake or what? I know you're going to give me a piece, right? Just a bite?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Jaleena sighed, lowering her book enough so that she could peer over the top to see Crake and Remy flirting with two girls across the street. She hated this part the worst: waiting. Waiting and watching them make fools of themselves. She rolled her eyes as Crake teasingly chased one of the girls around the other couple.

She had been "helping" with the jobs for about two weeks now. She had been at first shocked to see just how many sets of girls the guys went through in a single day, sometimes as few as three pairs, sometimes as many as eight. It resulted in a lot of profit, but Jaleena was losing more and more respect for the guys, who seemed to enjoy their "work" just a little too much. Remy was certainly getting fresh with his "date," and the blonde girl was far from unwilling. Leena blew out a disgusted breath as the girl leaned up to kiss Remy, whose hands slid slowly down her back to her bottom. The fact that his hand came up with a wad of bills from her back pocket didn't do much to sooth Leena's annoyance. She wasn't sure who she was more disgusted with—the boys for using such means to steal or the girls for being such easy targets.

When Remy glanced her way and winked—while he was kissing the girl—she snapped her book closed, and shoved it in her bag. At least this time she wouldn't have a hard time working up a temper when she approached them. She lifted her cup water and drained the glass before sitting back in her seat to glare at the couples, tapping her fingers on the table. Crake noticed and stopped chasing the girl, instead easily "catching her" in his arms. The girl giggled shrilly, apparently not disappointed to be caught, and he finally signaled Jaleena by reaching up to push the girl's hair behind her ear, at the same time palming whatever earring she was wearing.

"Finally," she muttered as she stood, tossed some coins on the café table (more than she thought worth it—they were working in a wealthier part of town), and grabbed her bag. She started across the street, beginning her screeching and name-calling half-way across. The girls looked up in surprise, for the first few moments not realizing she was yelling at the boys they were with. Once they did realize it, Jaleena's bag was hurtling through the air, very close to the face of the girl cuddling up to Crake. Jaleena tried not to grimace when he braced himself and lifted his hands to catch it. If the girl had been paying attention instead of diving for cover, it would have been rather obvious that he was expecting the attack.

When the girls continued to stand there, she turned her anger on them. It was rare, though not uncommon, for the girls to stand there gawking instead of running for cover. All it took was a few threats for them to take off as well.

As the girls rounded the corner in search of a safer haven, Leena sighed and put her hands on her hips. She turned back at the two men, still glaring. They laughed at her expression, and Crake tossed her bag back to her. Gritting her teeth, she spun around and started stalking off. They caught up with her easily, Crake suggesting, "We really ought to keep headin' up the hill. There will be easier pickings there. This girls were already more decked out than what we normally catch. The higher we go, the more rich ladies there are in need of some attention."

Jaleena rolled her eyes, still feeling annoyed with them. "Yeah, well, there's no point, Crake, as long as you're 'catching' whatever I throw at you rather than being hit by it."

Remy laughed at that, "She got you dere, mon ami. You really do look like you expectin' things to happen as soon as she starts screamin'."

Crake rubbed the back of his neck, turning a bit red. "Well, you try being on the receiving end for a change, Remy. It isn't a walk in the park, and her bag feels like it's filled with bowling balls!"

Remy shrugged. "I can do dat." He slid one arm around Leena, tugging her against him. He leaned his face close and gave her a slow wink. "I know you probably already feeling jealous, Leena. So I understand dat you might want to—"

She effectively cut him off by elbowing him hard in the stomach. "In your dreams, Le Beau." She hitched her bag up higher on her shoulder. "Whatever. I'll see you guys up there."

She turned the corner and headed off, wondering what she'd do to keep herself busy until it was time to meet up with them. She spent some time window shopping but didn't dare step foot into any of the shops. They were entirely out of her price range. The cost of one skirt in the shop would feed their entire family for the week, reminding her that she had been responsible for picking up groceries today. She continued wandering and finally spotted the guys at one of the popular tourist spots, lounging on a set of stairs and calling compliments out to the ladies who walked by. She rolled her eyes. She turned around and started walking down the street, knowing it wouldn't take long for them to catch some female attention with their rugged bad-boy looks. She didn't pay much attention as she walked down the street indulging just a bit by thinking closely about Remy's looks, so she was caught completely by surprise when a pair of rough hands grabbed her, pulled her deeper into an alleyway, and shoved her hard against the brick of the building.

Before she could scream, a brown, scaly hand pressed hard over the lower half of her face-effectively cutting off her ability to breathe.

"He'll let you go if you promise to be quiet." This came from a high-pitched female voice. Leena quickly nodded, and panicked when the hand wasn't immediately removed. When it was, she gasped for breath and stared with wide eyes at the two in front of her. The one who had grabbed her and still kept hold of one of her arms was a burly boy with a cap pulled low over his face, hiding most of it from view. The other was a petite girl with blonde hair with pink streaks. She was several inches shorter than Leena, and she brandished a small, sharp pocket knife.

When she noticed Leena looking at the knife, the girl laughed and playfully jabbed it in Leena's direction. "Not scared of this little thing, huh?" She laughed again. "Don't you worry. It's not for you anyway. It's to make a point."

Jaleena was confused, but she didn't say anything, only waited. The girl seemed a bit disappointed by her silence, but she shrugged and pulled a polariod picture from her back pocket and held it up in front of Leena's face. Her stomach tightened when she saw it was a picture of Crake, Remy, and the two girls from earlier that day. The girl lowered the picture when she saw the panic on Jaleena's face.

"Ahh…so you know you're caught, huh? Well, it's your lucky day that you seem to be new to the area. We'll be easy on you this time, right Woody?"

The boy just seemed to grunt and roughly shook her, causing her head to bounce off the bricks again. The girl seemed to find this amusing, so she laughed again, but it cut off quickly, and her eye narrowed as she stepped closer. "Let me be clear with you, girl. We don't want to see you or those two boys around here again unless you're sight seeing, you get me?" When Leena didn't respond and only stared at her with wide eyes, she leaned even closer, pointing the small knife at her. "Did you hear me?"

Jaleena squeaked out a quiet but emphatic "Yes!" The girl grinned and stepped back, slowly turning the knife in her fingers as she considered it. She ran one finger along the flat of the blade almost lovingly. Her smile widened as she looked back up at Jaleena.

"Now it's time for our demonstration—just so you know we're serious." Jaleena watched as the girl handed the photo to the boy, who grabbed it with his other gnarled hand—it almost looked to be covered in bark? He held the picture out flat in front of her, the other hand still anchoring her in place. The girl kissed her finger and then pressed it hard into Jaleena's cheek, smiling when the taller girl cringed. Then, to Jaleena's surprise, she held up that finger and pricked it with the small knife. Leena watched in amazement when the girl squeezed her finger over the picture, two drops of blood falling, one on Crake's face, and one on Remy's. The picture began to sizzle, and the blood seemed to eat away at the picture, bubbling and forming holes where each face had been. Jaleena gasped and raised her eyes to meet the grinning girl's eyes. She wagged her bloody finger in front of Leena's face and took a step closer. She kissed her finger again before she pressed it into Leena's cheek again. Jaleena flinched back, waiting to feel the pain as her skin was eaten away, but she felt no pain, just the girl's finger as it slid down her face, down her neck, and into the V of her tank top. The girl ran her finger along the edge of Jaleena's bra and then pulled her hand out with a wad of money—the family's grocery money.

The girl grinned and fanned herself with the money. "Isn't it amazing that all female theives seem to store their cash in the same 'safe' place?" She pocketed the money. "Well, we'll be off now. Best you and your boys keep well away from here. We won't be so nice next time we see you working our territory."

She glanced at the boy, nodded and started walking away. The boy grasped her chin and shoved her head back against the wall hard enough to daze Jaleena. She slid to the ground, fighting to remain conscious as they walked away. Her eyes closed, and when she opened them next, they were gone.

Jaleena pushed herself to a sitting position, lifting a hand to gingerly touch the back of her head. She had a small bump there, but her hand came away free of blood, so the skin hadn't been broken. She looked around and was relieved to find she was alone. On the ground next to her sat the picture. She shuddered, and picked it up to shove it into her bag with some of the other books that had scattered on the ground when she'd been grabbed. She stood, steadying herself against the wall with one hand. She simply stood there for a few moments, breathing deeply and slowly as she fought to get herself and the rolling of her stomach under control. She couldn't panic. She needed to pull herself together and get out of there. She needed to get the boys and get out of there.

She stumbled forward, slowly walking toward the brightness of the street. It took her several minutes to get there, but by the time she did, she felt more steady. She paused to adjust her bag, her clothing, and the smooth back her hair. She stepped out in the street, walking as if she hadn't just be accosted in an alley. It took her a moment to realize she was walking in the wrong direction, and she huffed out a breath of frustration as she had to turn around. These streets were unfamiliar, and it only added to her sense of unease. She nervously clenched and unclenched her hands, trying to work some of the nervous energy out of her. To her chagrin, a sudden wind began to whip down the streets. _Yeah,_ she thought, _now my powers start acting up. But nothing when I needed them! _She knew she was the most unpracticed with her powers, but she also was the only one who really tried to ignore them most of the time. Maybe it was time to reconsider that lack of interest.

When she finally spotted the boys, they were charming two girls in the same space she had seen them last. She hurried her step to approach them, almost at a run. In her haste, she forgot to start yelling, so when they noticed her, everyone was truly caught by surprise. The girls looked at her curiously, and she remembered what she was supposed to be doing. "You—You—" She sputtered, not able to think of a single thing to call Remy. Her hands shook as she pointed at him, and in fact, she felt as if her whole body were beginning to shake. Remy pushed the girl who had been standing nearest to him away, which was a good thing, because Leena never did get a clear sentence out. She stood in front of him for a moment, sputtering.

He smoothly held his hands up in front of him and gave her a charming smile, "Now darling," he said, "It's really not what you think. Just let me explain!"

Jaleena sputtered the word "Bastard!" and then hauled off and hit him, only her fingers were clenched, so she ended up punching him rather than slapping as she had planned. Everyone was shocked when he stumbled back a few feet from the blow, most of all Remy.

He took a step back from the blow, and lifted his hand to his lip. When he pulled it away, there was blood on his fingers. He looked at her in surprise, "What the hell, Leena?"

Jaleena didn't even hear him. All Leena saw was the blood on his fingers, and she felt as if the ground dropped out from beneath her feet. She looked up in horror to meet his eyes, then back down to the blood on his fingers. She recalled the blood on the petite blonde's fingers as she grinned smugly at her. Jaleena only shook her head, turned, and ran.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Remy grinned down at the pretty woman in front of him. She wore a lovely pearl necklace that he was trying to figure out how to remove without her notice. He carefully slid one hand up her arm to rest on her shoulder as he leaned down to whisper some sort of nonsense into her ear, his fingers toying with the latch. It was just his poor luck that it was one of those twisty ones that required two hands. It would be tricky, but not impossible. At least it would be a challenge. This game was getting old. If it weren't so profitable—and not to mention easy—he would have moved onto something else by now. Besides, Crake needed the money, and Remy liked him. He couldn't bail on his friend at this point.

He reached up to push back some of the hair that blew into his eyes and glanced at his friend. It felt as if there were a storm kicking up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jaleena stalking toward them, her frame held stiffly, her hands clenched. She really did look upset. The others seemed to notice her at the same time, and when she realized they were staring at her, she began sputtering. He frowned. She was normally much more composed than this, but maybe she just needed some practice with this new scenario. When she stopped in front of him instead of throwing her bag, he realized he'd better jump in to help.

"Now darling," he said as he lifted his hands as if to ward her off, "It's really not what you think. Just let me explain!"

To his complete shock, she punched him—hard. He fell back a couple steps, lifting a hand to his lips. When it came away red with blood, he was even more surprised, and just a bit angry. That was taking things a little too far. She knew to be convincing, but she also knew they were just playing. He looked up at her, exclaiming "What the hell, Leena?"

When he met her eyes, they were just as shocked as his own. She stared at him, but it almost felt as if she were staring through him at something else for a moment, then she turned and ran as if she were being chased by the hounds of hell, not even pausing when the strap to her bag ripped and the bag and its contents fell to the ground, books and papers scattering.

Something was wrong. He felt it deep in his stomach. He met Crake's gaze and then took off after Jaleena, leaving his friend to deal with the mess of the two girls who were still standing there in shock.

Remy chased after her, knowing he could catch up with her quickly, but when he saw her terrified face when she saw he was following her, he slowed. There was no use in scaring her even more than she already was. He jogged after her, keeping about a block behind so that she remained in sight. He was a bit impressed with her stamina as she took him through the city center and then out into the poorer outskirts. The buildings were crumbling, and there were signs of neglect and decay everywhere he looked. She tore up cracking stone stairs into a small, dilapidated two-story, slamming the door behind her. His jog slowed to a walk as he went down the narrow alley, then, he went up the stairs, found the door unlocked and went inside. There was a staircase against one wall of a large room, and one girl was standing with a book in her hands. When she met Remy's gaze, she immediately started screaming. He looked past her through a door way and could see an out-dated cooking range, so he figured that meant Jaleena was probably upstairs unless she liked to bake when she was upset. Unlikely. He ignored the screaming girl and took the stairs two at a time. There were only three doors at the top of the stairs, and the second that he opened showed Leena curled up on a sagging mattress, two girls sitting with her.

When he stepped into the room, they all looked up at him in surprise. He took another step toward her and had only managed to say half of her name before one of the girls launched herself at him, knocking him back onto the floor. When he moved to push her off of him, he felt sharp pains in his abdomen and shoulders. She sat on his chest, and he could feel the nails of her feet dig into the flesh of his stomach. He cried out in surprise, and she leaned forward over him, literally growling and tightening her grip on his shoulders. He looked up at her and processed a few things quickly, she was pretty with a spattering of freckles on her face, but her nose and lime green eyes looked more feline than human. Long, light blonde hair hung around her face and she bared sharp teeth at him. He was certain she was going to bite him until he heard Jaleena's voice calling her off.

The girl curled her lip at him one more time before getting up, and Jaleena quickly kneeled down beside him, her face tear-stained. She placed her hands on his chest, "Oh, Remy! I'm so sorry. I just seem to keep getting you hurt today!" She moved her hands over his chest and down to lift his shirt. His stomach muscles tightened when her fingers ran over the cuts on his stomach. He normally would have enjoyed any pretty girl caressing his stomach, but there was something different about Leena doing it. Definitely something more exciting than it should be, especially in a moment like this. He grabbed her hands and held them in his, attributing his discomfort to the fact that there were two strange girls watching them.

He sat up, continuing to hold her hands for safe keeping and glared over his shoulder at his attacker. "Don't worry about it, chere. Da cat just owe me a new shirt."

The girl opened her mouth to retort but was cut off when a large, muscle-clad man stepped into the room, the no-longer-screaming girl close behind him. He was tall and had to be at least thirty. "What in hell is going on?" he asked, his voice thick with a Scottish burr.

The other girl rose from the bed. She had long, multi-colored hair that was swept back into a simple braid. "Maybe we should all go downstairs. There's more room there to talk."

* * *

As they all filed down the stairway, the front door opened again, this time admitting Crake who was holding Jaleena's bag. He looked at the group and only raised an eyebrow when he noticed Remy and his torn and bloody shirt. Jaleena headed to the single couch to sit down, the multi-colored haired Laurel and the now-not-screaming Violet sitting on either side of her. Joey sat down on the floor in front of her, leaning back against the couch and patting her calf. She watched as StarFire threw herself into the rickety rocking chair to one side, letting her tail and one leg hang over the arm. She kept her gaze leveled on Remy, and her expression was far from welcoming. Crake sat down in a ripped up arm chair, and Remy just leaned against the wall by the door, his arms crossed over his chest.

Crake gestured, "So I guess you've all met Remy. I figured—"

"THAT is Remy?" Violet squeaked, her eyes wide. She looked him over again, and then narrowed her eyes, glaring at him just as StarFire was. "You'd think such a _fantastic_ man would have better manners than to just barge into someone's house uninvited and cause so much trouble. I really think it would be best if—"

Jaleena set a hand on her friend's arm to quiet her. "It's okay, Violet. It's my fault he came running in there like that. I probably deserved whatever he was going to say to me." She frowned, finally getting a good look at Remy's face and the purpling bruise on his jaw. "Remy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

He grinned at her, the action causing the newly-formed scab to tear and a bead of blood to form on his busted lip. "No problem, chere. It just give me an air of mystery." He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "And da ladies jus' love mystery." When she smiled in response, he wiped at his lip again and sobered a bit. "Besides, I knew sometin was up when you took off like dat. What's going on?"

Crake sifted through Jaleena's bag and pulled out the polariod picture. "That's a good question. The same one I was wondering when I found this on the ground." He tossed it toward the couch, and Joey bent forward to grab it. His brows drew together as he handed it back to the girls on the couch. StarFire left her chair to jump on the back of the couch to peer over Jaleena's shoulder so she could see as well.

When StarFire moved her hand as if to poke at the holes, Jaleena pulled the photograph away and warned, "Be careful with that. I don't know if it's okay to touch it. I think it was from some kind of acid in…" She trailed off when she registered the expressions around her—ranging from curiosity to shock.

"Acid?" Laurel asked, taking the picture from Leena. "Who would be walking around with acid?"

Jaleena nodded, and retold the story—leaving out the specifics of exactly how she, Crake, and Remy had been working together. There was no use letting that cat out of the bag, and Violet hadn't quite figured out exactly who was in the picture since it was at this point, as it was crinkled and dirty with two large holes in it. There was silence in the room for a few minutes after she finished speaking as everyone digested what they'd learned. To her surprise, Remy was the first one to speak. His voice was soft when he asked, "Leena, you okay? Your head still hurt or you feel woozy or anyting like dat?"

She looked at him in surprise. She would have thought he would have been more interested in the other gang. His interest seemed to snap everyone out of their silence as well. Laurel and Violet immediately wanted to check her head, and they fussed at her for a few moments until she assured them she was fine. "I'm most sorry that she took our money. It was our food budget for the whole week!"

As if on cue, Joey's stomach let out a loud growl, causing him to flush. Crake jumped up, pulling out some of what he'd scored that day. From the size of it, Jaleena guessed he hadn't had the time to put anything aside. "Well, we pulled in more than normal since we were in a better part of the city, so I'm sure it will help. In fact, with everything that's happening, why don't we splurge and order a pizza?"

Violet clapped her hands and nodded. "That's a great idea! After all the commotion, a treat would be nice. Would you like that, Leena?"

But Jaleena wasn't paying much attention. She'd noticed that as soon as he'd realized she was okay and the conversation had turned to food, Remy had slipped out the door, closing it quietly behind him. She patted Violet's knee and said, "That'd be great, Vi." She got to her feet and headed out the door while the rest of the group began to debate what kinds of toppings to get.

When she stepped outside, he was just reaching the bottom of the steps. "Remy?" She called softly, causing him to pause and look back up at her. "Where are you going?"

He grinned his normal cocky grin. "Home. It almost dinner time, and everyting seems to be all right here, so I'll be on my way. You got your family takin' care of you, so everyting's back to normal."

Jaleena frowned and stepped to the top of the steps, picking at the chipping stone on the railing. She looked at him again, and suddenly felt awkward. "What about you? Do you have a family waiting?" She asked. "I mean, your face is busted up. Who will take care of you?"

He seemed surprised for a second that she would ask, his cocky mask slipping for just a few seconds before his big grin was back. "I take care of myself, chere. It's less messy dat way. 'Sides, can you imagine how dat would cramp my style?"

She tried to smile back, but even to her it felt forced. For just one moment, she'd seen the loneliness and the longing in his eyes. She ignored his response and referred back to his initial comments. " You are right, they are my family—even if I haven't known all of them for very long. I didn't always have them, you know. I bounced around a lot of foster homes before I met Joey and Laurel, and then the others. It took a while, but we've figured out how to make it work. I can't imagine my life without even one of them in it. I know how lucky I am to have them." She paused, staring down at the cracked railing she was still picking at. "Haven't you ever had a family?" She held her breath in the few moments that passed before he answered. She didn't dare look up at him, knowing that asking a question like that was crossing the line of their casual friendship.

"Yeah," He said softly, resting his hand on the newel post at the bottom of the stairs. "I had a family back in Louisiana." He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "If dey miss me it only be for one reason, and it not anyting sentimental." As he spoke, Jaleena blinked a few times as the top of the post began to glow until it seemed to pulse with energy.

"Remy?" She pointed, "What-?"

"Get back," he said, jumping back himself as the top of the post exploded, sending shards of stone flying. Jaleena raised her arms to her face to shield it from stray pieces. When she slowly raised her arms after, she found him staring at her warily.

She swallowed hard, ignoring the stinging pain on her forearms from where she'd been hit by debris. She tossed her head back as if it were just an everyday occurrence for parts of her front porch to blow up. As she moved down the stairs, she kept her gaze locked with his, feeling a deep sadness when she saw the trepidation in his eyes. Was this why he'd left his family? Because of what he could do? When she stood in front of him, looking up at him, she smiled. In her best attempt at a flirtatious tone, she said, "Well, I guess if you've showed me yours, I better show you mine, right?"

When he blinked in surprise, she wrapped her arms around his waist and closed her eyes, resting her head against his chest. He stood stiffly for a moment, probably not sure why she was suddenly cuddling up to him. She concentrated as hard as she could until she felt the air shifting around them. She felt her body sway and was relieved when he wrapped his arms around her to hold her steady. Working her powers at any time was difficult, but she found she could most easily access her abilities when she felt safe and calm. When she opened her eyes to look up at him, his were wide in amazement, and he was laughing out loud in pure pleasure as he looked around him. They stood in the eye of a small tornado, garbage, dust, and rocks flying around them.

When the air slowed and eventually returned to normal, he squeezed her in his arms, still laughing. "Dat was amazing! Completely invigorating! How you do dat?"

She smiled back up at him, enjoying the physical contact too much to release him and step back. Besides, it had been a long time since she'd felt like she'd been in a perfect moment, and right now, with his smiling red eyes looking down at her, it felt pretty close to perfect. "I don't know!" She exclaimed. "I didn't even know I could do that! I mean, I didn't expect it to be that big!"

His grin widened. "So you like me den? Dat's pretty cool!"

She giggled and nodded, the adrenaline still rushing through her system. "I'm not very good at it, and I can only do it every once and a while. I guess I need to practice."

He nodded, "Me , too. Den maybe we help each other wit dat."

She smiled and nodded in response, and they just looked at each other for a moment, grinning. They realized that they were still standing in the alley holding each other at roughly the same time, causing them both to step back awkwardly. Remy lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck, and Jaleena turned away as if to try to smooth her wind-blown hair, hiding her suddenly flushed cheeks.

He cleared his throat and looked down the alley as if he were getting ready to make an excuse and walk away. Jaleena lifted a hand to rub her arm and said, "Well, we'd better hurry." When he looked at her curiously, she started up the stairs, pausing halfway to look back at him. "You know if we don't get in there and weigh in, we'll be eating sardine and pineapple pizza, right? Hurry up, or I'm going to blame it on you, and trust me, I'll complain about it all night."

Remy grinned, and after a moment's hesitation, he followed her up the stairs and into the house where he was finally introduced to the rest of the family.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Once introductions were made and pizza toppings were decided on, the guys left to go pick it up. As soon as the door closed, both FireStar and Violet began to pester Jaleena with questions, mostly centered around why she hadn't told anyone that she'd met Remy, let alone shared that she was working with he and Crake. To avoid their questions, she ran up stairs to grab a quick shower. FireStar followed her but when Jaleena slammed the bathroom door in her face, FireStar went into the bedroom and shut the door. She was still sulking over the fact that no one had agreed to have a pineapple and sardine pizza.

Jaleena took her time so that when she was finished, the guys were back with the food. With her wet hair pulled back into a ponytail, she sat down while the guys handed out plates and sorted through the pizza boxes. To her surprise, Joey handed FireStar a small box. When she opened it her eyes lit up. "Pineapple and sardine!" she exclaimed, "O, Joey! Thanks so much."

The big man only shrugged, "Dinna be thankin me, gel. Thank Remy. He be the one that got it."

When she looked at the new boy in surprise, Remy only shrugged. "Don't read too much into it," he said. "I just was tired of hearing you complain."

FireStar didn't say anything else and instead began eating her pizza. Jaleena did notice that she looked at the boy thoughtfully a few times during dinner but the former malice was absent from her gaze.

Conversation while they ate was light and everyone seemed to be getting along well. Once they were done eating, Remy stood and pulled a cigarette pack out of his pocket, tapping it against his palm. "Well," he muttered with a grin, "No meal is complete witout dessert. I'll step outside for a few."

To everyone's surprise Violet stood up as well. "I think I'll join you," she said.

Crake and Jaleena exchanged a look. Jaleena stood as well, offering, "I can come, too."

"No, no," Violet protested. "We'll be okay by ourselves."

Frowning, Jaleena sat back down and watched them go.

* * *

Remy held the door and allowed Violet to walk out in front of him. He sat down on one of the steps and pulled out a cigarette. Violet walked past him to stand at the bottom of the stairs. She crossed her arms across her chest and glared up at him. He just lit his cigarette, completely unperturbed.

"So," she began, "You know Crake is my boyfriend, right?"

Remy just smirked and took a drag from his cigarette. "Hmm," he murmured, pausing for dramatic effect as if he really had to think about her statement, "Now dat you mention it I did hear about dat."

Violet gritted her teeth in frustration, not pleased by his sarcasm or smirk. "Well, you better not forget it! Just because he's hanging out with you and spending all this time with you now doesn't mean he's going to forget about me."

Remy just shrugged in response which only seems to frustrate Violet even more. He just couldn't help himself. It was so easy to get her riled up, which made him think she'd been stewing over he and Crake's time together for quite a while. He wasn't sure how she could miss the fact that Crake adored her.

He continued smiling to himself and smoking his cig, and she continued standing with her arms crossed as she glared up at him. Finally, when it was clear he wasn't going to say anything in response, she spoke again. "So what's with you anyway?" When he again shrugged and smoked in response, she asked, "Why is it Jaleena can help with the jobs, but I can't?"

He took another inhale from the cigarette. He was sitting in shadow since the porch light was behind him. It created a silhouette of his head until he inhaled. Then the bright burn of the tip of his cigarette reflected on the contours of his face, making his red eyes almost seem like they were glowing. "So dat's what's bothering you," he said as he exhaled, "Feeling left out, Violet?"

Violet just rolled her eyes. "That doesn't really matter to you, so just answer my question," she demanded.

Remy considered the smoldering end of his cigarette for a moment and then took another hit from it, using the gesture as a way to gain more time to think of a way to answer her question. Obviously the truth wouldn't do. He leaned back on his elbow on the step behind him and grinned at her. "Maybe she have a crush on me. Maybe she just show up one day and keep working wit us after dat so she can have more time wit me."

Violet let out a bark of a laugh. "Now that's too funny. Jaleena is only interested in the men who write the pages of her books or show up in history. I doubt she'd have any interest at all in you. In fact, I know that she is far from interested in having a relationship with anyone right now. She told me so herself. She's focused on studying so she can be a teacher some day. She doesn't want a man, let alone a _boy,_ in her life to distract her from that."

Remy held up one hand to cut her off. For some reason he wasn't ready to consider, her words bothered him. "Okay, okay." he said taking another drag from his cigarette to stall for more time. "You want de truth, I can give you de truth. Maybe I like her. Maybe I ask Crake to have her come along so I can get to know her." He pushed away the single question that popped into his head when he finished speaking: Was it the truth?

This answer seemed to satisfy Violet because she nodded. "Well that makes sense," she said, nodding to herself. "Jaleena is very pretty, but I'm telling you that you don't have a chance. Not only is she focused on other things, she's way too good for you. It'd take someone a lot smarter than you to distract her from her studies."

Remy frowned, not liking that answer either. But rather than letting Violet know she'd made an impact on him, he flicked his cigarette in her direction, causing her to jump to one side. He stood, winked, and walked down the stairs, smiling at her. "Well what you tink certainly don't change tings, does it? Tell your boy I'll see him tomorrow." With those parting words, he walked away down the alley, trying to determine what bothered him so much and whether he really wanted to know the answer to that question.

* * *

Jaleena looked up when Violet came back into the house, feeling a bit relieved that her friend had returned so quickly. However, she wasn't happy to see that Remy did not follow her in. She hoped Violet hadn't said something to make him feel unwelcome.

"Where's Remy?" Crake asked.

"He went home, "Violet said. "He said, he'd see you tomorrow."

Jaleena picked up another piece of pizza, cold now, and leaned back against the couch cushions. She tried to refocus on the conversation they had been in the middle of when Violet returned. They were deciding on how to handle the situation involving the other group of mutants.

FireStar had been arguing with Laurel about whether or not they should find the other group and confront them. "I just think we need to pay them back for what they did to Leena," she explained. "We can't let them think they can get away with it now, or they'll think they can do it again."

"I know you just want to get this over with FireStar, and I know you're upset that they hurt Leena, but I think it's a bad idea." Laurel argued. "It seems like they know more about us than we know about them. We would have no idea what we'd be going into. You don't know how many of them there are, where they are, or what powers they have. To me, that spells trouble."

Firestar growled in frustration. "But we can't just let them push us around!" she exclaimed.

"We willna," Joey cut in. "It wasna like we worked in that area much tae begin with. It doesna hurt us tae continue tae steer clear of it and tae stick where we're used tae."

"I don't like it," Firestar grumbled. "They don't have any right to push us around."

Jaleena spoke up now. "Fire, imagine how we would feel if it had been them coming and taking some of our opportunities away from us." She wasn't proud of the way that they had been making their money, so she didn't mind the idea of staying away from people who knew about it. "I mean, why let it change anything for us? We can just keep doing what we've been doing. Stay in our own territory. Hopefully, that should be the end of it."

"Well, what if it isn't?" Firestar asked stubbornly

"Then we'll deal with it then," Crake answered.

"In the meantime," Laurel said, "We need to be a little bit more careful about how we're working. I don't think anyone should be out on their own. From this point, we need to work in pairs at the very least, in threes when possible. I know it can make things a little more difficult, but no one should be on their own for the next few weeks until we know that this group has moved on and forgotten about us."

Everyone seemed to be in agreement with that and the group broke up for the evening. They would all have an early start in the morning to try to recoup the money that they have been lost in the attack on Jaleena.

* * *

The next day, Jaleena worked with Crake and Remy again, much to Violet's disappointment. They walked through the plan, agreeing that it would be best if they followed the same ruse as normal but that Remy would continue to be the guilty party. It didn't take the boys long to find two unsuspecting females. Jaleena bided her time until she got the sign, and then angrily stormed toward them whipping her bag at Remy and yelling obscenities and accusations.

The girl that has been flirting with Crake took a few steps away, clearly threatened, but to Jaleena's surprise the blonde girl that has been flirting with Remy stepped directly in front of him to block Jaleena's path. "Listen up, girl. Obviously you're not doing enough to keep him satisfied, so why don't you just buzz off? He has a real woman now." She said haughtily is she crossed her arms across her chest and looked down her nose at Jaleena.

Jaleena froze, completely caught off guard by the girl's decision to fight back. This was certainly new. Well, she decided, she could fight fire with fire. "What? Are you talking to me?" she exclaimed. "You have got to be kidding me, because I don't' see any _women_ around here. Get lost. He was mine first, and you can't have him."

The blonde snorted, completely unafraid. "Yours? It certainly doesn't look like it since _he _was the one to approach _me_! Besides, just what are you going to do about it? A plump little mouse like you doesn't have anything to offer a man like him. Just because you can throw a temper tantrum when you see that he's moved on to something better doesn't mean that he wants you now." Smirking at Jaleena, the girl turned around to put her arms around Remy's neck. "Now where were we, sweetie," she cooed.

"Remy!" Jaleena yelled. "You don't really prefer for her over me do you?" She gave him a meaningful look as if to say, "The ball's in your court. You get rid of her."

Remy stood still for a moment, obviously also unsure of what to do with the current situation. When Leena yelled his name again, he seemed to snap out of it, and pushed the girl away. "Listen," he said with his characteristic sly grin, "Dere no need to fight. Dere's enough of me to go around!" He grinned and winked to both girls, and he could hear Crake make a gagging sound in the background.

"I don't think so," the blonde said. "I don't share, and even if I did, I wouldn't want a man who's interested in such a little girl," she sneered in Leena's direction.

Jaleena crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. She tried to ignore the fact that the blonde's words hurt. "It looks like you're just going to have to choose, _sweetheart_," she said, the last word coming out sarcastically.

Remy looked back and forth between them for a moment, and then shrugged at the blonde. "Sorry sugar, I've gotta go wit what I know." He pushed her aside to pull Jaleena into his arms.

Jaleena stood there stiffly, and the girl continued to stand and look at them.

Jaleena and Remy stared back almost comically, not sure what she was waiting for.

"Well," she said, obviously not ready to give up yet. "It looks to me like she's not going to take you back."

At this point Crake stepped in to put a hand on each one of his friend's shoulders. "I know they'll be just fine. When they fight like this, it just takes them a little while to cool down. But I guess we'll see you ladies around." He started to pull them away, but the girl stubbornly followed.

"Well maybe he doesn't want to wait for her to cool down," she argued. "Especially when he could have me right now."

Remy smiled at her over his shoulder. "I flattered by your persistence, honey, I really am. But you were jus a way to spend some time until my lady came back. Don't you know jealousy is de best way to rekindle de passion?" When the blonde only raised an eyebrow, he pulled Jaleena against him and kissed her. When she started to pull away, he captured her chin in one hand and kissed her even harder, sliding his other hand down her back to press her entire body against his. When he pulled back, the blonde was already storming away, dragging her friend after her. Because he was watching her, he didn't have a chance to dodge the fist that was again flying in his face.

He looked down in surprise at Jaleena. Placing a hand to his jaw—how the heck did she manage to hit him in the exact same spot—he demanded, "What de heck is wrong wit you? Dis is starting to become a habit!"

Instead of responding, she just turned around and fled. Remy looked at Crake who also seemed to be puzzled by the turn of events. He sighed, shook his head, and shrugged the whole thing off. Women... He pushed Jaleenas upset from his mind, focusing instead on some exciting news. Then he grinned as he pulled a lovely diamond solitaire necklace from his pocket. He handed it to his friend and said, "Ah, well. I tink dis one is real, and it might make a very lovely setting for de middle of an engagement ring."

Crake smiled in response, grabbed the necklace, and gave his friend a one-armed hug. Then, the two walked off to head to a pawn shop to see if they could turn in their day's earnings and get a jeweler started on a ring for Violet. It looked like their secret mission was coming to an end.


	6. Chapter 6

Revised 7/18 to complete this story arc.

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Chapter 6:

Three days later, Remy sat at a table in the library-of all places. Jaleena had refused to speak to him or to even be in the same room with him. Anytime that he'd been in the house, she had resolutely stood and walked upstairs, slamming the door to her room behind her. She had refused to show up to work with he and Crake and instead spent her spare time with Joey and Laurel. It wasn't as if they still needed to work since Crake had everything he needed for the ring, but Remy was puzzled as to why she wouldn't want to continue working with him. It wasn't until he finally asked Crake what was up that he discovered the problem.

_"Listen," Crake said, seeming embarrassed by the very topic. He actually stuttered as he told the story, "Jaleena, it is, just... Well, she's being a girl right now." _

_When Remy only raised an eyebrow in question, Crake cleared his throat. "Well, remember when we worked that last job with her, and she got so upset?" When Remy nodded, he continued. "Well Laurel told me that, well. I guess Jaleena had never been kissed before. So she was kinda upset."_

_Remi frowned, puzzled. "So she's upset dat I kissed her?"_

_Crake shrugged. "I guess so. Laurel said she was even more upset about the way you kissed her."_

"_Now dat I can't believe!" Remy said. "Remy LeBeau never had a girl say dat he don't know how to kiss."_

_Crake shook his head. "No, no it wasn't the kiss, but it was why you kissed her. Not that you wanted to but that, I don't know, it wasn't real? I don't understand either. Like I said. It must be some kind of girl thing." He had shrugged and changed the topic._

His friend had seemed so uncomfortable by the conversation that Remy let it go. But he couldn't stop thinking about it. In fact, it was all he'd been thinking of for the last two days, which was why instead of being out on the streets making a living, he had been sitting at a table in the library waiting for her to show up. He idly spun a book on the table by one finger. He knew how to read, but it wasn't something he enjoyed doing. He did manage to get through a couple chapters of some detective fiction, but they hadn't held his interest. He was really hoping she would show up soon.

Almost as if he had willed her to appear, he noticed Jaleena standing at the front desk talking to one of the librarians. He quickly pulled a book up and put it in front of his face to shield him from her view as he peeked over the top of it to keep an eye on her.

She seem to stand there and talk forever, but when she finally did turn away, he was relieved to see her head towards the shelves of books rather than leaving.

Stealthily, he set his book down and followed her deeper into the library. Eventually he found her standing in a row of encyclopedias dividing her attention between two different books. He walked past the row she was in and went down the neighboring one so that he would be closer to her when he did approach.

She looked at him in surprise and then scowled. She snapped the books closed, slapped them on the shelves, and turned on her heel to stalk away. He grabbed her arm and turned her back around to face him.

Jaleena glared up at him and tried to pull her arm free from his grip. "What the hell do you want, Remy?" She demanded

He grasped her other elbow to hold her in place. "I want you to calm down so Remy can apologize."

She glared in response, "Have you ever considered that maybe I don't want your apology? Maybe I just want you to leave me alone."

He frowned at that, "Well too bad, chere, dat ain't happenin."

When she just continued to glare at him, he sighed. "Listen Leena, I am really sorry. And I want to make it up to you, okay?" When she pressed her lips together stubbornly and said nothing, he said, "The most important thing I want you to remember is that I'm doing this because I want to, and not for any other reason."

With that he lifted his hands to frame her face, and he bent down to softly kiss her. At first he lightly brushed his lips over hers, repeating the gesture until he felt her softening. Through his slitted gaze he could see her eyes slowly close. Then he slid his hands down her neck, over her shoulders, and to her arms to guide them around his waist. Then he buried his fingers in her hair, massaging his fingers along her scalp and the nape of her neck as he deepened the kiss.

When he pulled back, the weight of her head rested on his hand and her eyes opened almost sleepily. She blinked her eyes at him a few times and smiled. He moved one hand to brush a finger across her lower lip. There were scratches from his unshaven face around his mouth. He frowned. He hadn't even kissed her that hard.

At his frown, her head jerked up and she started to pull away. "What? What did I do wrong?"

He chuckled and pulled her close to him again, repositioning her arms around his waist. "Notin' you did, belle. It all on Remy." He ran a finger under her lips. "You just have some sensitive skin."

She blushed and nodded. "You should have seen me the other day."

He frowned. "I am sorry about dat, Leena. I didn't tink it through. You deserved better dan dat. It never occur to me dat you hadn't kissed someone before."

As soon as he'd said it, he felt her stiffen in his arms and realized he might have rekindled her ire. To his surprise, she smiled, relaxed, and easily forgave him. "That's all right. I think this one made up for it. I hate holding grudges anyway."

He grinned down at her and lifted a hand to cup her face, brushing his thumb across her bottom lip. "Remy be awful glad to hear dat. He make a lotta mistakes."

She smiled against his finger and tilted her head to the side. "Well, I guess that means you'll have to keep apologizing to keep me happy, right?"

He smiled. "I tink we can make dat work." Releasing her waist for a second, he reached over to pull a book from the shelf, and then dropped it on the floor. He smiled, said "Oops," and ducked in to kiss her again.

Jaleena giggled. "I can see this might cause a problem, especially if you start breaking things."

"Well den, I guess I better just start kissing you anytime I feel like it. Is dat okay wit you?" He didn't realize how nervous he was about the question until she took a few seconds before answering.

Jaleena lowered her gaze, lifting one hand to play with a button on his jacket and staring at it. She glanced back up at him quickly, almost as if trying to see if he was teasing her, and then returned her gaze to the center of his chest. "I guess that would be okay," she said slowly. She shyly peeked up at him. "If it would be all right if I kissed you sometimes, too."

He let out his breath on a happy laugh, the tension easing out of him to be replaced by a carefree buoyancy. "Well, you won't ever hear me complain about dat. Consider me all yours!"

She stepped away from him, still smiling, and reached for the books on the shelf. "Well that's good to hear. I have been thinking about you for the past few days."

He continued to grin, surprised by the lightness he felt in his chest. Wiggling his eyebrows at her, he asked, "So I guess dat kiss wasn't dat bad afterall?"

She rolled her eyes and turned to head back toward the tables. "Not like _that._ I was thinking about what you did on the steps. You know…" she lowered her voice to a whisper, "your powers."

He slid into a seat next to her at the table and leaned in close. She'd definitely caught his attention now. He watched as she opened both of the books, flipping through pages until she found what she was looking for. She pointed to an entry entitled "Kinetic energy."

_Kinetic Energy: a form of energy that an object or a particle has by reason of its motion. If work, which transfers energy, is done on an object by applying a net force, the object speeds up and thereby gains kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is a property of moving objects or particles and depends not only on its motion but also on its mass. The kind of motion may be translation, rotation about an axis, vibration, or any combination of motions._

To him, it read as if it were written in a different language (luckily for him, it was in English, not French). When he looked at her, not quite getting it, she pulled the other book free and pointed at a specific section.

_Having gained this energy during acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes. The same amount of work is done by the body in decelerating from its current speed to a state of rest, at which point the energy is potential. _

_The cars of a roller coaster reach their maximum kinetic energy when at the bottom of their path. When they start rising, the kinetic energy begins to be converted to gravitational potential energy. The sum of kinetic and potential energy in the system remains constant, ignoring losses to friction._

Again, he just looked at her. "You know I don't do school, right?"

She sighed, and jabbed her finger at the page again. "Let me explain. I think this is what you do. I read through all of the different science books I had at home, and I think this has to be it. I figure all mutant powers break down into the smallest sum, and for any physical object, it comes down to the molecules that is making it up. For something to explode, I figure it has to be due to an excess of energy." She paused, waiting to make sure he was following her. At his nod, she continued. "To put it simply, I think you can increase an object's kinetic energy. You add more energy than there should be, and since it can't handle it: boom."

His brow furrowed as he looked at her and considered her explanation. "But de objects, dey don't move."

She nodded, grinning and turning to face him. He was starting to believe what Violet had said. She was good at explaining things, and it looked like she was enjoying talking about her theory. "Right! The whole object doesn't, but the pieces that make up the object do. They move so quickly that you can't see it because they're small and fast. Every object can only contain a certain amount of energy—whether it's kinetic or potential. When the movement creates more energy than the object can contain, it has to blow apart because there's so much more than it can handle."

He nodded and looked back at the book. It made sense in a weird way. He looked back at her again. "But why does it matter? If tings blow up, dey blow up. Why does it matter why dey do?"

She smiled again, pleased with his questions. "Because, if you know _why_ it blows up, you can learn how to control how and when it blows up. If you're controlling the kinetic energy, you can increase it at the rate you want." She pursed her lips. "That's if I'm right. If you aren't affecting the energy, then we'll have to start back at the beginning."

He leaned back and placed one arm along the back of her chair. "Someting tell me dat dere wouldn't be a problem wit dat." When she looked up at him in question, he continued. "You are pretty smart, Jaleena. And I tink you enjoy figuring dis type of ting out. If dis isn't it, den I know you'll figure it out at some point."

She smiled at him, flushing a bit. She turned back to the books, flipping a page or so. "Thanks."

"Now, what about you?"

She looked back up, curiously. "What about me?"

"What did you find about what you can do?"

She shook her head, still skimming through the section on kinetic energy. "I haven't started yet. It could just be too many things: something weather related, wind streams, or something with temperature." She shrugged.

He leaned forward to turn her face toward him. "You said we work on dis together. Dat means you, too."

She stared into his eyes for a moment and then sighed. "Then I guess you better start reading this stuff about _your _powers." She pushed the books toward him and stood up, rolling her eyes dramatically. "I've got to go grab some books on wind to learn about mine."

Remy leaned back to watch her walk away. She had tried to seem annoyed at his insistence that they focus on her as well, but he'd seen the small smile that spread across her lips as she'd walked away. When she disappeared into the shelves of books, he looked down at the table before him and sighed. He'd never tried to seduce a girl through science before. He leaned over the table to watch her walk down the aisle, grinning as he thought about the possibilities. Pulling one of the books squarely in front of him, he muttered, "Dere be a first time for everyting."

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There will be more short stories from the past-just keep an eye out and let me know if there's any specific scenarios you're curious about.


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